A History of Friends
The Friends Church arose from a movement of Christian renewal that began in England during the seventeenth century. The major leader of this renewal was George Fox, who longed for an authentic faith which he finally experienced in the reality of Christ Jesus. Fox found this experience with the living Christ so compelling that he quickly told others about it. People responded eagerly, and the fellowship of believers rapidly grew in numbers. They called themselves “Friends,” in accordance with Jesus’s words, “You are my friends, if you do whatever I command.”
In the United States, William Penn’s colonization of Pennsylvania provided a haven for oppressed persons and for respectful relationships with the Indian nations. Friends participated in the westward migration, establishing churches and schools wherever they settled. The value of all individuals, the respect for life, and the need for solutions rather than conflict have consistently characterized the Society of Friends. These ideals remain true today.
Friends first came to the Northwest in significant numbers in the 1870s. Many of the early settlers came from Iowa, drawn by the prospect of a fertile land where they would not have to “endure Iowa winters again.” Many settled in the Chehalem Valley, southwest of Portland, where Newberg is still an important Quaker center.
By 1893, Oregon Friends had grown to seven monthly meetings (local congregations) with 1,363 members, and in that year they were established officially as Oregon (now “Northwest”) Yearly Meeting. Not only did Friends continue to grow in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho, but they also immediately took up mission work in Alaska, and later in Bolivia and Peru.
Arthur Roberts
(Ralph Beebe has provided a fine account of the first 75 years of Northwest Yearly Meeting in his book A Garden of the Lord.)
